Water from roads

Water from Roads
A handbook for technicians and farmers
on
harvesting rainwater from roads

During rainy days, the road from Kitui to The result of the dual function is
that gullies
Kibwezi functions both as a river and a road. damage both the road and
adjacent farmland.

Rainwater run-off from the Nairobi-Mombasa highway is diverted into an earth
dam at Salama, which provides water for livestock, brick-making and forestry
without any erosion.
.

Erik Nissen-Petersen
for
Danish International Development Assistance (Danida)

1

2006
Technical handbooks in this series :
Titles Contents
1 Water for rural communities Lessons learnt from Kitui pilot projects
2 Water supply by rural builders Procedures for being rural contractors
3 Water surveys and designs Survey, design and cost of water projects
4 Water from rock outcrops Rock catchment tanks, masonry and earth
dams
5 Water from dry riverbeds Wells, subsurface dams, weirs and sand
dams
6 Water from roads Rainwater harvesting from roads
7 Water from small dams Ponds and small earth dams built
manually
8 Water from roofs Various types of roof catchments for
domestic use

These handbooks can be obtained free of charge by either collecting them from the
office of ASAL Consultants Ltd., or by paying through bank transfer the cost of
sending the manuals by courier. For further details, please contact:
asal@wananchi.com with copy to asalconsultants@yahoo.com

Published by
ASAL Consultants Ltd. for
the Danish International Development Assistance (Danida) in Kenya
Text, sketches and photos by
Computer drawings by
Catherine W. Wanjihia

Editing and proofs by
Prof. Elijah K. Biamah, Amin Verjee and Steen S. Larsen
Printer
Printwell Ind. Ltd., P.O. Box 5216-0506, Nairobi, Kenya

Website by
Edwin Ondako
Distribution by
ASAL Consultants Ltd. P.O. Box 739, Sarit 00606, Nairobi, Kenya
asal@wananchi.com asalconsultants@yahoo.com
Fax/Tel : 254 020 2710296 and 4766144 Mobiles: 0733 619 066 and 0722 599
165
Website : www.waterforaridland.com

 Copyright.
The copyright of this handbook is the property of the Royal Danish Embassy
in Kenya. Downloading from the internet and photocopying of the handbooks
is permitted provided the source is acknowledged.

2

Contents Page
Acknowledgement ………………………………………………………… iv
Foreword ………………………………………………………………….. v
Technical vocabulary …………………………………………………….. vi
Measurements and conversions …………………………………………. vii

Chapter 1. Damage by road run-off water ………..…………….. 1
1.1 Road damage by run-off ……….…………………………………. 1
1.2 Loss of people and livestock ……………………………………… 2
1.3 Gullies made by culverts ……………………………………….…. 3
1.4 Volume of rainwater running off roads …………………………… 4
1.5 Benefits from rainwater running off roads ………………………… 5

Chapter 2. Earth dams ……………………………………………… 6
2.1 Murram pits ……………………………………………………….. 6
2.2 Small pans …………………………………………………………. 8
2.3 Large pans …………………………………………………………. 8
2.4 Ponds ………………………………………………………………. 9
2.5 Charco dams ………………………………………………………. 9
2.6 Hillside dams ……………………………………………………… 10
2.7 Valley dams ……………………………………………………….. 11
2.8 Tools and equipment for soil works ………………………………. 12
2.9 Analysis of soil samples …………………………………………… 13
2.10 Construction costs of earth dams ………………………………….. 14
2.11 References on earth dams …………………………………………. 14
Chapter 3. Water tanks ……………………………………………… 15
3.1 Advantages of water tanks …………………………………………. 15
3.2 Excavation of hemispherical tanks ………………………………. 15
3.3 Hemispherical tank built of burnt bricks ………………………….. 16
3.4 Hemispherical tank built of ant-hill soil, lime, sand and cement .... 19
3.5 Hemispherical tank built of ferro-cement ………………………… 23
3.6 Cylindrical underground water tanks …….……………………….. 26
3.7 Berkads …………………………………………………………….. 28
3.8 Rectangular water tanks ……….…………………………………… 33
3.9 References on water tanks …………………………………………. 33
Chapter 4. Subsurface dams ……………………………………………... 34
4.1 Water in sand reservoirs ……………………………………………. 34
4.2 Floodwater passing roads ………………………………………….. 34
4.3 Hand-dug wells ……………………………………………………. 35
4.4 Subsurface dams. weirs and sand dams ……………………………. 36
4.5 Subsurface dams built of soil ……………………………………… 37
4.6 Weirs ……………………………….……………………………… 39
4.7 Sand dams ……………………………….………………………… 40
4.8 Sand harvesting …………………………………………………… 44
4.9 Gold and gem stones from sand dams ……………………………. 45
4.10 References on subsurface dams, weirs and sand dams …………… 45

Chapter 5. Run-off farming …………………………………….… 46
5.1 Drainage from roads by engineers ………………………………… 46
5.2 Drainage from roads by farmers ………………………………….. 47
5.3 Soil bunds …………………………………………………………. 50
5.4 Gullies …………………………………………………………….. 51
5.5 Macro-irrigation …………………………..………………………. 55
5.6 References on run-off farming ……………………………………. 57

2

Acknowledgments
Much gratitude is due to Birgit Madsen of the Royal Danish Embassy in Nairobi for
having taken a leading role in documenting the experiences of various techniques of
creating low-cost water supply structures in the semi-desert, arid and semi-arid
regions of the world.

Many thanks are also due to Prof. Elijah Biamah, Steen Larsen and Amin Verjee, who
assisted with proof-reading the text and editing, to Edwin Ondako who created the
website and loaded this handbook and others onto it, and to Oliver D’Cunha, who
managed the printing at Printwell Ind.Ltd..

Thanks are also due to the many engineers, technicians, artisans and self help groups
who participated in several training courses and other assignments on small earth
dams implemented by ASAL Consultants Ltd. for Danida, SIDA, UNDP, the EU and
other organisations in a dozen countries over the last three decades.

This handbook, Water from Roads, is one of a series of 8 publications on Water in
Arid Lands, financed by the Danish International Development Assistance (Danida).

To promote the simple technologies described in the handbooks, these can be read or
downloaded free of charge from our website www.waterforaridland.com .

Managing Director
ASAL Consultants Ltd.
P.O. Box 739, 00606, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel/fax: +254 (0)20 2710296
Mobile: +254 (0)733 619066 / +254 (0)722 599144

Disclaimer
The designs and construction procedures described in this handbook are based on the
author’s experiences and observations over 30 years. The tanks and earth dams
described herein, when properly constructed and maintained, have performed
exceptionally well. However, local climatic, geological, seismic and soil conditions
vary widely, as does the quality of materials and workmanship, and while the author
and Danida are keen to encourage the replication of the ponds and dams described in
this handbook, they cannot accept liability for the failure of a water harvesting system
based on the designs and construction procedures described herein.

3

Foreword

This handbook on water from roads produced by Danida in Kenya is targeted at all
organizations involved in road construction works and especially the Ministry of
Roads and Public Works.

Currently, all road construction works have no provision for the storage of run-off
water generated from road drainage. This handbook then comes when road engineers
have been trained and sensitized on the importance of safe disposal of run-off water
from roads.

Water from Roads as a handbook is expected to serve as a guide for road engineers
and contractors who are involved in the design and construction of road drainage
works. The handbook provides valuable technological advice for harnessing road run-
off water.

This handbook provides all the technical information required for the design and
construction of all the types of earth dams, water tanks and subsurface dams. Also the
handbook contains information on run-off farming.

It is this understanding of the technical information contained herein that our roads
could be designed better by providing viable alternative technologies options for
harnessing road drainage. This handbook also provides alternative technologies for
run-off water utilization.

Mrs Elizabeth Mibey
Principal Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Officer
Ministry of Roads and Public Works

4

TECHNICAL TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ASAL = Arid and Semi-Arid Lands
ASALCON = ASAL Consultants Ltd.
Batter = Gradient of a dam wall
Bench mark (BM) = A fixed point for measurements
Berm = Area between a reservoir borrow pit and dam wall
Base = Foundation for a dam wall
Borrow pit = An excavation from where soil is taken
Bill of Quantities (BQ)= List of materials and labour, with costing
Catchment = Area draining run-off water to a common point
Centre line = An imaginary line through the centre of a crest at
the upper level of the freeboard
Contour line = Horizontal line connecting points of equal altitude
Crawler = Bulldozer
Crest = Top of dam wall
Danida = Danish International Development Assistance
Diaphragm = Blanket of soil on upstream side of embankment
Downstream batter = Downstream slope of a dam wall
Downstream toe = Downstream edge of a dam wall
Draw-off pipe = Pipe draining water by gravity
Embankment = Dam wall
Evaporation = Water lost as vapour from a water surface
EU = European Union
Freeboard = Safety height of dam wall from maximum water level
Gradient = Slope
Hafir (Arabic term) = A type of earth dam for livestock and people
Inselberg = A massive bare rock outcrop common in the tropics
Impervious = Not letting water through
Key (Cut-off trench) = Trench of clayey soil to prevent seepage
Live fencing = Fence of vegetation, preferably thorny
Murram = A clayey soil packed with stones found in laterite soil
NIL = Cement slurry
Seepage = Water seeping through soil
Sediment = Soil deposited in reservoir
Settlement = Soil compacting and shrinking due to weight
SIDA = Swedish International Development Assistance
Sill = Low concrete wall across spillway
Siltation = Dam reservoirs being filled with silt
Siphon = Pipe lifting water over a high point to a lower level
SODIS = SOlar DISinfection (of water)
Spillway = Overflow channel discharging excess floodwater
Storage ratio = Volume of water in relation to volume of soil
Turbid = Muddy, unclear water carrying sediment
Throw-back = Length of a reservoir full of water
Topographical = Relating to the shape and height of the land
UNDP = United Nations Development Programme
Upstream batter = Upstream slope of a dam wall
Upstream toe = Upstream edge of a dam wall
Valley dam = Dam constructed in a valley with a straight embankment
Washout = Section of a dam wall washed away by water

5

ILLUSTRATION OF TECHNICAL TERMS

Cut-through section of a three-dimensional sketch of a dam wall.

MEASUREMENTS AND CONVERSIONS
Length 1 metre = 3.28 feet
1 km = 0.62 miles

Area 1 acre = 4,047 m2 = 0.4047 hectares (ha)
1 ha = 10,000 m2 = 2.471 acres
1km2 = 100 ha = 247.1 acres

Volume 1 litre = 1.75 pints = 0.22 Imp gallons (or 0.26 US galls)
1 m3 = 1,000 litres (l) = 220 Imp gallons (or 260 US gallons)
1 Imperial gallon = 4.550 l
1 US gallon = 3.785 l

Weight 1 tonne = 1,000 kg
1 British ton = 1,016 kg
1 US ton = 907 kg

Volumes and weight of materials
1 m3 water = 1,000 kg
1 m3 dry soil = 1,230 to 2,000 kg
1 m3 compacted soil = 2,180 kg, approximately
1 m3 loose gravel = 1,745 kg, approximately
1 m3 stones = 2,400 kg to 2,900 kg

Exchange Rate Used in the Manual
Ksh = Kenya Shillings
Ksh 72/ = USD 1.00 (October 2006)

6

Chapter 1. Damage by road run-off water
1.1 Road damage by run-off
Rainy seasons are blessings for farmers
but hard times for motorists. Streets get
flooded and impassable in towns due to
blocked or under-dimensioned sewage
systems. In the countryside, villagers may
be cut off from the rest of the world due to
deep holes filled with water and mud,
which vehicles cannot drive through. The
photo shows the depth of such a hole in a
road after the water has evaporated.

Here the rainwater has cut a small gully on
one side of the road. Since usually no
repairs take place during rainy seasons,
every additional rain shower will make the
gully deeper.

The following rain showers have now
deepened and widened the small gully into
a deep cut that runs halfway across the
road and through the farmland until the
flood reaches a riverbed.

The rainwater continues to remove
considerable amounts of murram from the
road and soil from the farmland, which is
eventually transported to the sea via
riverbeds, where it chokes fish, coral reefs
and damages the marine ecology.

A few more rain showers have now
extended the gully right across the road
and made it impassable.

The only way of by-passing the gully is to
drive over the farmer’s land on the higher
side of the road, where vehicles have cut a
deep track. No crops will ever grow there
again.

7

A road-grader has made a cut-off channel to
divert run-off water from a road to a field.

While this preserves the road, it damages
the field, because the run-off water will
create a gully stretching all the way from
the road to the nearest riverbed.

After a few years, the run-off water from
the road will have deepened and widened a
small gully in a fertile farmland to a bare
valley where all the top soil has been
eroded. Only hardy thorny scrubs can grow
there.

Where no preventive action is taken, a
small gully may turn into a desolate moon
landscape as seen in the photo.

In this way, thousands of acres of fertile
farmland are being washed away every year
by uncontrolled rainwater running off
roads.

Another hazard created by rainwater
running off roads is that some people and
animals lose their lives, while trying to
cross a road over a riverbed flooded by
rainwater.

1.2 Loss of people and livestock
Often rainwater comes as a flash flood
several metres high, which carries uprooted
trees and drowned animals – and sometimes
drowned people - into the brown maelstrom
of flooded riverbeds. The photo shows the
damage by erosion to a low bridge after a
flood has passed over it.

This handbook explains in simple terms,
how other people have stopped the erosion
process and improved their living standards.

8

1.3 Gullies made by culverts
Culverts are concrete rings laid as
drainage pipes under roads at their lowest
points. The culverts drain run-off water
from the upper side of a road to a riverbed
on the lower side of the road.

The photo shows a series of concrete
check dams along the newly built Nairobi-
Mombasa highway. The check dams
reduce the velocity of water before it
enters the culvert seen in the left lower
corner.

On the other side of the road, the culvert
discharges the water into a small ditch
which spills the water onto grazing land
without any soil protection. This ditch
will turn into a deep gully after some
rainy seasons and the topsoil and grass
will be washed away. In the near future,
the Maasai will have to graze their
livestock elsewhere.

This photo, of the same road near Sultan
Hamud, gives a good impression of the
huge volumes of run-off water from roads
after a small rain shower.

Luckily, this water is discharged into a
riverbed without any erosion.

This photo shows a culvert near Arusha
that discharges run-off water into a ditch
that will either turn into a gully or a
riverbed after a few more rainy seasons.

9

1.4 Volume of rainwater running off roads
The volume of rainwater running off from a 1 km long murram or tarmac road from a
rain shower of 30 mm, can be estimated as follows:

Road area: 1,000 m long and 4 m wide
Road surface: Murram or soil
Run-off efficiency: 80%
Rainfall: 30 millimetres

1,000 m x 4 m x 80 x 30 mm = 96,000 litres = 96 cubic metres from 1 km road
100

Bearing in mind that the average annual rainfall in a season is about 600 mm in most
ASAL regions, the total annual volume of run-off water from a 1 km long murram
road is:

1,000 m x 4 m x 80 x 600 mm = 1,920,000 litres = 1,920 cubic metres
100

Considering that one local Zebu cow consumes about 20 litres of water in a day, then
185 local cows can be watered every day in a year (1,920,000 litres minus 30% loss
(576, 000 litres) = 1,344,000 litres / 20 litres / 364 days = 185) from only 1 km of
murram road.

This example shows clearly that roads can supply huge volumes of water for
livestock, irrigation, forestry, construction works, etc., provided the harvested water
can be stored until it can be used in the following dry season.

If the stored water is intended for domestic use, it can be treated using grounded seed
from Moringa stenopetala to settle the dirt in the bottom of a container. Thereafter the
water should be sterilised either by boiling or by the Sun’s ultraviolet rays that can
destroy all bacteria in water filled in transparent bottles and exposed to 6 hours
sunshine.

Run-off water from the Kanziku road in Kitui has been harvested into this pond,
which was made by scooping out a depression and placing the soil as a dam wall on
the lower side of the excavation. Hopefully, the woman will treat the water she is
drawing, before it will be used for domestic purposes.

10

1.5 Benefits from rainwater running off roads
As shown on the previous page, the 1,344 cu.m. run-off water from 1 km of road can
water 185 local cows every day in a year, while taking into account that 30% of the
water may be lost due to evaporation or seepage. Besides watering livestock, the
water could also be used for other purposes, such as:

1. Tree nurseries, woodlots, orchards and vegetative fencing of fields and
homesteads, which provide income from sale of tree seedlings, timber,
firewood, fruits, etc.

2. Manufacturing of burnt bricks, concrete blocks, culverts and other building
materials that can be sold.

3. Sale of water to neighbours for watering their livestock, construction works,
etc.

4. Raising ducks, geese, fish and bees in or near open water reservoirs.

5. Sale of sand harvested from weirs and sand dams in gullies and riverbeds.

6. Recharge of hand-dug wells near subsurface dams, weirs and sand dams in
riverbeds from where domestic water can be drawn.

7. Using run-off water from tarmac roads for domestic use is not advisable due to
the risk of contamination by tar, oil, rubber, etc.

8. Increased agricultural production from fields irrigated by road run-off water.

Two examples of school boys earning cash for their schooling:

Harvesting sand for sale from a sand dam Assisting water vendors in bringing
built in a gully near Lake Victoria. The empty jerrycans to a water point near
construction cost of 10 sand dams was Voi.
recovered from sale of sand in 1 ½ years.

The next chapters will describe four types of rainwater harvesting from roads, namely
earth dams, tanks, subsurface dams and run-off farming, which farmers can construct
themselves for a minimum of investment.

11

Chapter 2. Earth dams
The most common technique for harvesting run-off water from roads is to store the
harvested water in reservoirs built of soil. The construction cost consists only of
labour to excavate and transport soil. There is no need to purchase cement or
reinforcement iron from hardware shops.

Several types of soil structures that can be constructed successfully by farmers are
described in the following chapters.

2.1 Murram pits
Murram pits, also called borrow pits, are always situated along roads and are easy to
convert into water reservoirs, because only excavation of one or two trenches is
required. However, before digging the trenches, it is advisable to discuss the issue
with the local authorities.

Murram pits are found along most roads,
because the material (murram) excavated
from them is used for building the roads.
Whenever a road is re-carpeted with murram,
the existing pits are either widened, or new
murram pits are excavated.

In any case, the floor of murram pits is
usually either impermeable laterite or rock,
through which there is hardly any seepage. If
the walls or the floor of a murram pit are
stony they may allow some seepage but that A murram pit along a road in Kitui
can be sealed by plastering a mixture of clayey
soil and lime onto the leaking parts.

The run-off water from a road is diverted into a murram pit by excavating a trench
reaching upwards from the murram pit to the ditch running along the road. To prevent
sedimentation of the water reservoir in the murram pit, the trench should have a
gradient of about 3 cm for every 100 cm.

A gradient of 3:100 can be measured
by levelling a spirit level on a 300 cm
long timber having a leg being 9 cm
long.

This photo shows a cut-off trench that has
been cut by a road grader for the purpose of
diverting run-off water from the road into
an adjacent field. Similar trenches can be
excavated by hand, or ox-scoops, to divert
rainwater into murram pits.

12

When a murram pit has been filled with rainwater running off a road, the surplus
water must be discharged over a spillway to avoid damage to the water reservoir. The
height of spillways is important. If a spillway is too low, the maximum storage
capacity of the water reservoir is wasted. If a spillway is too high, the lowest part of
the wall will not be able to withstand the water pressure and it will be washed away
thereby destroying the water reservoir.

Preferably, the surplus water from a filled
up murram pit should pass over a spillway
that diverts the water back to its original
course of discharge.

In practice, the optimal height of spillways
and the discharge of surplus water from
murram pits can be found by heighten the
spillway in stages.

Spillways should always be protected by The side of a spillway protected by stones
large stones packed with smaller stones
into the floor and sides of the spillway to
prevent erosion and ensure that the final
height of a spillway is maintained.

Water can be drawn from murram pits in
many ways depending on the usage of the
water.

A girl filling jerrycans with water
from a murram pit for domestic use.

Two boys pumping water from a murram pit for
irrigation of vegetables using a Money-maker foot
pump costing about Ksh 5,000.

13

2.2 Small pans
Pans are natural depressions without any dam walls around their water reservoirs.
Pans were scooped out by elephants long time ago whereas murram pits are man
made. Local people call these pans silanga ya ndovu, meaning elephant dams.

Rainwater running off roads can be diverted into pans by excavated trenches, or along
stone bunds, having a gradient of about 3:100 as described above.

A small depression next to a road at
Mbuinzau at Kibwezi has been converted
into a pan by building a “speed bump”
across the road, which diverts run-off water
into the pan.

Please note that the downstream side of the
pan has been eroded by surplus water due to
lack of a spillway covered with stones.

A small pan next to a road at Kibwezi.

2.3 Large pans
Large pans for storage of run-off water
from roads and the annual floods from
Angola, are common water sources in the
extremely flat land of Ovamboland in
Northern Namibia. The pans are used for
raising fish, watering livestock and
domestic uses as well.
Deep pans in the Sudan are called hafirs. An excavated pan in northern Namibia
that harvests run-off water from roads.

An old pan being desilted
manually in Taveta, for
Food-for-Work, apparently
without a proper workplan.

A pan built recently
by crawlers in the flat
land of Taveta financed
by TTAP/Danida.

14

2.4 Ponds
Ponds are small earth dams that are made by scooping out soil and using the soil to
construct a dam wall on the lower side of the water reservoir. There are three main
types of small earth dams namely: Charco dams, hillside dams and valley dams.
These dams are described in detail in another handbook of this series, namely Water
from Small Dams, and will therefore only be described briefly in this handbook.

2.5 Charco dams
Charco dams are suitable where run-off from roads spill over onto flat land,
preferably with silty or clayey soils. The best design for charco dams resembles a
calabash cut in half for scooping and pouring water as shown in the photo below.

A calabash cut in half.

Plan and profiles of a charco dam A charco dam in Tanzania.

Charco dams and other small dams can be constructed in stages during dry seasons,
when manual labour is available. Alternatively, neighbours who want to draw water
from somebody else’s dam can be requested to scoop out and transport one
wheelbarrow of soil for every jerrycan of water they want to carry home, or the water
can be sold for cash and used to hire contract labourers for deepening a dam.

At every stage, the water reservoir can be made deeper and the dam wall higher from
soil excavated from the reservoir. This process can be continued until the dam can
hold enough water throughout the year.

Cross sections of a charco dam showing the first and last stage of excavation works.

15

2.6 Hillside dams
Hillside dams are suitable where run-off water from roads can be diverted onto
sloping land or hillsides. These dams have an oval-shaped water reservoir with a
semi-circular dam wall on the lower side of the reservoir.

A hillside dam at Lukenya along
the Nairobi - Mombasa highway.

Plan and profiles of a hillside dam.

Another hillside dam at Salama
on the same highway.

Hillside dams must have a spillway at each
end of the curved dam wall in order to
discharge surplus water when the reservoir
is full.

The two spillways should be at the same
horizontal level in order to discharge surplus
water safely. A horizontal line can be sighted
along the two water levels in a circular transparent
hosepipe filled halfway with water.

Spillways must be reinforced with large stones
interplanted with grass at the dam wall to prevent Sighting along the two water levels in a
erosion by over-flowing water. circular transparent hosepipe filled
halfway with water, gives an exact
Also the floors of spillways should be covered horizontal line.
with stones and grass and interplanted with types
of grass having many runners and long roots.

16

2.7 Valley dams
Valley dams are suitable where run-off water from roads is discharged into valleys.
Valley dams have straight embankments (dam walls) with a wide spillway at each
end of the embankment. Although valley dams require less excavation work than
charco and hillside dams, they are vulnerable and could be washed away by
unexpectly large volumes of run-off water. Considering the unpredictable weather
pattern created by global warming, many valley dams have been destroyed by
extremely high rainfall.

Plan and profiles of a valley dam. Source: Water from ponds, pans and dams by the
author for RELMA/Sida in Kenya, 2005.

Construction of the designed dam by manual labour.

17

2.8 Tools and equipment for soil works

Plots having a volume of The “owners” of the plots excavate the soil and load it
1 cubic metre of soil are onto wheelbarrows. Women transport the soil to the dam
pegged out and distributed. wall, off-load it and compact it manually.

Various sizes of plots all with the same volume of 1 cubic metre of soil.

An ox-scoop made of 4 mm steel plate; with a plough and ox-scoop, two men and two
oxen can excavate and transport more soil than 10 able-bodied men.

18

2.9 Analysis of soil samples
It is important to analyse samples of soil that shall be used for construction of dams in
order to minimise seepage losses. Naturally, the most clayey soil found on a dam site
should be used for those parts of a dam wall that should be as impermeable as
possible. Sandy soils should be used on the downstream side of a dam wall where
weight, and not impermeability, is required.

A soil test that gives the percentage of clay, silt, sand and gravel can be carried out

using a transparent bottle as follows:
Fill a transparent bottle 1/3 with a soil sample and 1/3 with water. Add a pinch of salt.
Shake the bottle vigorously for 1 minute. Leave it for 1 hour, then shake again. After
4 hours, measure the thickness of each layer in the bottle. The upper layer is clay
followed by silt, sand and gravel at the bottom. Find the percentage of each layer by
measuring its thickness against the total thickness of the soil sample and multiply by
100.

Another simpler but less accurate method is to remove the caps and bottoms of some
transparent plastic bottles. Fill the bottles halfway with soil and top up with water.
Keep on adding water while watching the speed with which the water infiltrates the
soil.

Soil with the least infiltration has the highest clay content and is therefore the most
suitable soil to use for the impermeable parts of a dam wall and its reservoir.
Source: Water from ponds, pans and dams by the author,for RELMA/Sida in Kenya, 2005.

19

2.10 Construction costs of earth dams
The four types of earth dams listed below have different construction costs depending
on the construction method and the water-to-soil ratio.

a) The construction method relates to whether the excavation is done:
1) Manually with shovels and wheelbarrows costing about Ksh 100/cu.m. soil.
2) With draught animals, scoops, ploughs and carts, costing about Ksh 60/cu.m.
3) Hiring a farm tractor with a plough and scoop costing about Ksh 80/cu.m.
4) Hiring a crawler (bulldozer) costing about Ksh 300/cu.m. soil.

b) The water-to-soil ratio depends on the type of dam, because the volume of water:
1) A pond is equal to the volume of excavated soil, therefore the ratio is 1:1.
2) A charco dam is equal to the volume of soil, therefore also 1:1.
3) A hillside dam is 1.5 times more than the excavated soil, therefore 1.5:1.
4) A valley dam is 3 times more than the excavated soil, therefore 3:1.

Although valley dams have the lowest construction cost per m3 soil, because they can
store about 3 times more water than the excavated soil, they have a much higher rate
of failure than other types of earth dams.

Type of Construction Reservoir Water Excava- Cost Total Cost per
dam method volume to soil ted soil per cost cu.m. of
cu.m. ratio cu.m. cu.m. Ksh. water
storage
Ksh.
Excava-
ted pond Manual 100 1:1 100 x 100 = 10,000 100

Charco Manual 500 1:1 500 x 100 = 50,000 100
dams
Tractor 500 1:1 500 x 80 = 40,000 80
Oxen 500 1:1 500 x 60 = 30,000 60

Hillside Manual 500 1.5:1 333 x 100 = 33,300 66
dams Tractor 500 1.5:1 333 x 80 = 26,640 53
Oxen 500 1.5:1 333 x 60 = 19,980 40

Valley Crawler 5,000 3:1 1,670 x 300 =501,000 100
dams Manual 5,000 3:1 1,670 x 100 =167,000 33
Tractor 5,000 3:1 1,670 x 80 =133,600 27
Oxen 5,000 3:1 1,670 x 60 =100,200 20
Source: Water from ponds, pans and dams by the author, for RELMA/Sida in Kenya, 2005.

2.11 References on earth dams
Design and Construction of Small Earth Dams. Nelson, K.D. Australia 1985.
Field Engineering for Agricultural Development. Hudson, Oxford, UK.
Small Earth Dam built by Animal Traction. Nissen-Petersen, E., Danida Kenya 1990.
Small earth dams. Brown, L.N. University of California, USA 1965.
Water from ponds, pans and dams. Nissen-Petersen, E. RELMA/Sida Kenya 2005.
Water from Small Dams. Nissen-Petersen, E. Danida Kenya 2006.

20

Chapter 3. Water tanks

3.1 Advantages of water tanks.
In regions with sandy soils, much water is usually lost from seepage in earth dams,
and additional water is also lost by evaporation due to the large surface area of the
water reservoirs. Furthermore, earth dams have other disadvantages such as siltation
of reservoirs due to lack of proper soil conservation, erosion by livestock watered in
the reservoirs, water-borne diseases and vector carried diseases.

Since it is difficult and expensive to reduce these disadvantages of earth dams, it may
be more applicable to build water tanks. Although the capacity of water tanks is
smaller than earth dams, they have several advantages, such as:

1) Seepage can be eliminated by lining water tanks with clay, anthill soil, burnt
bricks, concrete blocks, ferro-cement or butyl rubber sheets.

2) Evaporation can be greatly reduced by roofing water tanks with live
vegetation on wires, iron sheets, concrete covers or ferro-cement domes.

3) Siltation can be eliminated by excavating and regularly emptying silt traps.

4) Contamination by livestock and vectors can be avoided if the tanks are
covered.

A number of well-functioning water tanks for harvesting rainwater run-off from roads
are described in the following pages. A common feature for all the tanks is that none
of them have a square or rectangular shape because these shapes always tend to crack.

Water tanks should always have a hemispherical or a cylindrical shape, because these
shapes distribute equally the external and internal pressures on the wall, thereby
eliminating the risk of cracks due to uneven tension.

3.2 Excavation of hemispherical tanks. Another common feature is that
the tanks are built against the wall of solid soil exposed by the excavation works
thereby ensuring a solid support of the entire tank wall.

Excavation of hemi-
spherical tanks is made
accurately by using a wire
with the desired radius, tied
to a peg in the centre
column.

The centre column is
removed as the last part of
the excavation.

21

3.3 Hemispherical tank built of burnt bricks.
Lay the first brick on its side in
the centre of the tank. Thereafter
lay the following bricks on their
sides as a spiral winding their
way up towards the ground level.

For every metre or so, moisten
the bricks and compact mortar
into the spaces between the
bricks, with a mixture of 1 part
cement to 4 parts of coarse sand
(1:4).

When the laying of bricks has
reached ground level, a centre
pipe is erected and a radius wire
is tied onto it for building the
circular foundation wall, which
prevents children and animals
falling into the tank.

A silt trap built in front of the
inlet. Two gaps are made
opposite each other to cater for
the inlet of rainwater and outlet
for water overflowing the tank.

Barbed wire is then wrapped
tightly in a spiral around the
outside of the tank wall above
ground level, with a spacing of
10 cm.

Chicken mesh is thereafter nailed
onto the inner wall of the tank for
additional reinforcement.

The internal and external walls
are then plastered with 1:4
mortar and made water-proof
with NIL (cement slurry) the same
day.

22

A centre post made of a PVC pipe filled
with concrete is erected in the centre
onto which barbed wire is tied to form a
roof. A lockable manhole is fitted on the
roof. The tank is coated with a weather-
proof mixture of 1 part of cement to 10
parts of lime mixed with water.

Water can be drawn from the tank by a
bucket in a rope or another simple lift.

Formula for calculating the volume and surface area of a hemispherical tank
The volume of a hemispherical water tank can be calculated using the following
formula:
2/3 x ‫ ח‬x r3, or simplified to: 2/3 x 22/7 x radius x radius x radius = Volume.

The volume of this tank: 2/3 x (22/7 x radius 2.17 m x radius 2.17 m x radius 2.17 m)
=
2/3 x (22/7 x 10.218) = 2/3 x 32.11 = 21.41 cu.m volume

The surface area of this tank can be calculated using the formula of: 2 x ‫ ח‬x r2 , that
can be simplified to: 2 x 22/7 x radius 2.17 x radius 2.17 = 29.60 sq.m.
+ superstructure: d x ‫ ח‬x h: diameter 4.34 x 22/7 x height 0.8 = 10.91 sq.m
Total inner surface area = 40.51 sq.m.

Bill of quantities and cost of a 21 cu.m. hemispherical tank built of burnt bricks
Description Unit Quantities Unit cost Ksh Total cost Ksh
Labour cost
Artisan Artisans 1 x 10 days 400/day 4,000
Labourers Labourers 3 x 15 days 200/day 9,000
Cost of labour 13,000
Materials
Bags of cement 50 kg bags 25 600 15,000
River sand Tonnes 6 200 1,200
Crushed stones Tonnes 1 600 600
Burnt bricks 4”x 6”x 10” Units 1,170 5 5,850
Water Oil-drums 5 100 500
Y 12 twisted iron bars Lengths ½ 600 300
Barbed wire 20 kg rolls, g 12.5 1 3,000 3,000
Chicken mesh 3’ x 90’ x 1”, rolls 2 3,000 6,000
Nails, 2” Kg 5 100 500
Lime 25kg 3 400 1,200
uPVC, 4” sewage pipe Lengths 1 400 400
Cost of materials 34,550
Transport of materials
Hardware lorries 3 tonnes 1 loads 3,000 3,000
Tractor trailer loads 3 tonnes 7 loads 900 6,300
Cost of transport 9,300

Total cost of a 21 cu.m. tank 56,850

23

4,330 (Internal Diameter)

Barbed wire spaced at 550 mm

900 x 200mm Outlet Barbed wrapped outside and
plastered (1:4) 20mm thick

1:3:6 Concrete in 570 640 260 360
100mm uPVC pipe
GL MWL Inlet GL

4,300

310 310
120
60

600
200
140
Silt trap
2 nos Y12 twisted
iron bars in column

Chicken wire nailed inside
300 x 300 x 150 footing
and plaster (1:3) 30mm thick

150mm Burnt brick wall

SECTION A-A (mm)

90
0

Wall Manhole
0
70

360 640 260 360
130

130
A A
680

680
130

130

4,730

PLAN (mm)

Cross section and plan of a 21 cubic metre tank built of burnt bricks.

24

3.4 Hemispherical tanks built of anthill soil, lime and cement
As seen above, the cost of building a water tank of burnt bricks with a storage volume
of 21.4 cu.m. is Ksh 56,850, equivalent to Ksh 2,656 er cubic metre storage volume.

The construction cost can be reduced by using powdered anthill soil as a part
substitute for cement and burnt bricks. The best of the two tanks described below has
a storage volume of 48 cu.m. and was constructed for Ksh 34,360, equivalent to Ksh
716 per cubic metre storage volume. However, this saving of Ksh 1,940 per cu.m. as
compared against the above brick tank, comes with a higher cost of maintenance and
repair.

Nevertheless, it is an affordable tank to construct for most rural people. The cost of
maintenance and repair can be recovered using the water for cash generating
activities, such as growing and selling vegetables and tree seedlings, making and
selling burnt bricks, selling water, watering livestock, etc.

A dozen tanks were built of various mixtures of powdered anthill soil, lime, murram
and cement 20 years ago by the author in Mutomo in Kitui District. A recent follow-
up on these tanks showed that some of the tanks are still performing well after two
decades even despite lack of maintenance. Unfortunately, the records for the mixture
ratios are lost and forgotten.

This tank was built of the cheap
materials mentioned above. 20 years of
neglect have not weakened the tank.

A representative of RELMA/Sida is
admiring the inflow channel which has
not been eroded by inflowing water.

This picture shows another one of
those old tanks built of cheap materials
for harvesting run-off water from a
road.

Only the surface of the plaster along
the water level has eroded slightly.

There is no sign of the cone of sisal
poles that prevented people and
animals from falling into the tank.

25

Two water tanks were built of anthill soil, lime, sand and cement during a training
course at Makaani Primary School at Kibwezi in 1998.

1) The tanks were excavated using a radius wire that was 290 cm long and their
volume was calculated as follows:

2) The radius of each tank: 290 cm minus 6 cm of plaster = 284 cm radius

3) The volume of each water tank was calculated using the formula of:
2/3 x ‫ ח‬x r3 simplified to: 2/3 x (22/7 x radius x radius x radius) = Volume.

4) The volume of this tank: 2/3 x (22/7 x radius 2.84 m x radius 2.84 m x radius
2.84 m) = 2/3 x (22/7 x 22.91) = 2/3 x 72.00 = 48.00 cu.m volume

5) The surface area of this tank can be calculated using the formula of: 2 x ‫ ח‬x r2
that can be simplified to: 2 x 22/7 x radius 2.84 x radius 2.84 = 50.70
sq.m.
plus superstructure: d x ‫ ח‬x h = 5.68 x 22/7 x height 0.8 = 14.28 sq.m
Total inner surface area 64.98 sq.m.
============================
Two types of plaster
Anthills were broken into particles that could pass through a sieve made of coffee
mesh.

a) The 6 cm plaster for one
tank was made of:
4 parts anthill soil
1 part cement
2 parts lime
6 parts river sand

b) The 6 cm plaster for the
other tank was made of:
20 parts anthill soil
2 parts cement
1 part lime
18 parts river sand
A woman sieving anthill soil.

The 6 cm thick plaster was reinforced with chicken mesh nailed to the first coat of 3
cm plaster. After 14 days of curing the plaster was coated with bitumen paint.

A visit to the tanks three years later showed that the plaster mixture (a) above was the
most superior, although the inflow of water had eroded part of the plaster due to a
complete lack of maintenance by the school, its pupils and parents.

26

140 5520 140
20 40 40 20

1750
360 260 640 360
900 x 200mm Inlet 100mm uPVC pipe with

500
Silt trap
concrete (1:2:4) and 2 nos Outlet
GL MWL Y12 iron bars GL
200

500
200
200

200
3"

500
4 GI pipe 600mm long
40mm thick
antihill clay plaster for ladder

500
2800

500
300 x 300 x 150 Footing

500
SECTION A-A (mm)

90
0 Manhole

0
360 260 640 360 70
130

A A
680
130

140 140
20 40 5520 40 20

PLAN (mm)

Cross section and plan of 48 cu.m. water tank built of anthill soil, lime, sand and
cement

27

Bill of quantities and cost of the best 48 cu.m. tank built of anthill soil, lime, etc.

Description Unit Quantity Unit cost Ksh Total cost Ksh
Anthill soil Tonnes 7 300 2,100
Cement 50 kg bags 5 600 3,000
Lime 25 kg bags 3 300 900
Burnt bricks Numbers 300 5 1,500
Chicken mesh 3 ft. x 90 ft. x 1” 3 rolls 3,000 9,000
Barbed wire 20 kg rolls, g 12.5 1 roll 3,000 3,000
PVC pipe 3 metres of 4” 1 length 400 400
Iron bars 3 metres of Y12 1/2 length 600 300
Nails 5 kg of 2” 100 500
Water 7 oil drums 100 700
Artisan 1 artisan 10 days 400 4,000
Labourers 3 labourers 15 days 200 9,000
Total 36,400

The first ground tanks for harvesting rainwater from roads and compounds were
roofed with corrugated iron sheets tied onto galvanized iron pipes in 1983. Since
goats and cattle could smell the water, they walked on the roofs and damaged them.

The iron sheet roofs were therefore replaced by sisal poles arranged in a pyre and held
together with an old tyre at the top. Passion fruit and lupher plants were grown on
barbed
wire wrapped around the sisal poles.

28

3.5 Hemispherical tanks built of ferro-cement
Some 100 hemispherical water tanks with a storage volume of 60 cu.m. and 90 cu.m.
were built of ferro-cement for roof and ground catchments by the Danida funded
Mutomo Soil & Water Conservation Project in Kitui in the 1980s.

The ferro-cement tanks are still in good shape but the roofs, made of corrugated iron
sheets nailed onto timber, collapsed after some years. The collapsed roofs could easily
and cost-effectively be replaced with domes made of ferro-cement, but no-one has
taken on this responsibility.

A USAID Peace Corps Volunteer replicated and enlarged the volume these
hemispherical tanks in many places in Kenya. Many of these larger than normal tanks
have cracked because the usual the reinforcement of barbed wire and chicken mesh is
insufficient when the storage volume exceeds 100 cu.m. Some of these large tanks
have been rehabilitated by building a new tank inside the damaged ones.

The 60 cu.m tanks were constructed as follows:
A peg was hammered into the centre of
the tank, and a wire having a length of
312 cm was tied to the peg.

This radius wire was used to guide the
builders in getting the correct hemi-
spherical shape. The centre column
was removed after the hemispherical
shape was completed.

The excavated wall of soil was
plastered with a 3 cm thick coat of
mortar, with a mortar mixture of 1:3. It
had to be completed in one day.

The next day, the barbed wire and
chicken mesh were nailed to the coat
of mortar applied the day before. The
following day, a second 3 cm coat of
mortar was applied onto the
reinforcement and made water-proof
with NIL. Then the mortar was cured
with water and kept under shade for 3
weeks.

29

During the curing, a reinforced
concrete beam was built onto the rim
of the tank. Sisal poles were set in a
groove of the beam to form a cone-
shaped roof onto which barbed wire
was wrapped around. A silt trap was
made at the inflow to the tank and an
overflow at the opposite side of the
tank.

Bill of quantities for a 60 cu.m. hemispherical tank built of ferro-cement
Description Unit Quantity Unit cost Total cost
Ksh Ksh
Labour cost
Materials
Burnt bricks, 4”x 6”x10” Units 800 5 4,000
Water Oil-drums 45 100 4,500
Y 12 twisted iron bars Lengths 1 600 600
Galvanized ceiling nails Kg 5 130 650
Lime 25 kg 2 400 800
uPVC, 4” sewage pipe Lengths 1 400 400
G.I pipe 1½” 1 2,500 2,500
G.I fitting 1½” elbow, nipple 2 500 1,000
Mosquito mesh Plastic 1 100 100
Lockable door Steel, 3’ x 7’ (feet) 1 5,000 5,000
Galvanized coffee mesh Cu.m. 1 200 200
Cost of materials 1 200 200
77,350

Total cost a 60 cu.m 133,150
tank
The construction cost per cu.m. storage volume is: Ksh 133,150/ 60 cu.m. =
Ksh 2,219/cu.m.

30

612

175
36 26 64 36

Silt trap Inlet 900 x 200mm Outlet Steel door
Overflow

37
GL GL
MWL

6
20
25

14
1:3:6 Concrete in

20
3"
4GI pipe 600mm 100mm uPVC pipe
long for Ladder 20
2 nos Y12 twisted
363

iron bars in column

306
Filter Tap

Footing

60
100

SECTION A - A (cm)

90

Manhole

70

36 26 64 36 60 Overflow
15

A A
Tap

150
84

90
15

90 410
500

664

PLAN

Standard design of a 60 cu.m. hemispherical water tank built of ferro-cement.

In order to avoid hand pumps which require maintenance and spare parts
occasionally, this design features a staircase leading down to a watertap from which
water can be drawn by gravity from the tank.

An additional advantage is that the staircase is also functions as a water reservoir.
When surplus water is overflowing, it spills over onto the staircase. Water is drawn
from the staircase by opening the steel door covering it and lifting a bucket of water
out of the staircase.

31

3.6 Cylindrical underground water tanks

Cylindrical tanks have been used for
many years to harvest and store
rainwater running off threshing floors
from the sparse rains in the semi-desert
areas of Botswana.

Water is drawn with a bucket from the
manhole on the cover of the tank as
illustrated in this photo.

A sketch showing the catchment area,
which could have been a road as well,
and the underground cylindrical tank
built of burnt bricks.

This type of cylindrical ground tank is
used in the hot and arid Northern
Namibia to store water for construction
of schools.

These tanks are also very suitable for
collecting rainwater run-off from
roads.

These two cylindrical ground tanks
were built of soil compressed blocks
for fish farming at Machakos in Kenya
in1980s. The tanks could also have
been used for harvesting rainwater
from roads.

32

This tank was initially built for storage of ater for construction during a training
course at Kibwezi in Kenya in 1997. Upon completion of the training, the tank was
equipped with a silt trap and used for harvesting water from a road.

This gigantic cylindrical ground tank was constructed for harvesting rainwater from a
large concrete apron near Dodoma in Tanzania in 1992. The tank could also have
been used as road catchment of rainwater.

33

3.7 Berkads
Berkads are tanks that are excavated
and lined with concrete blocks or
ferro-cement in the semi-desert regions
of Somaliland. Rainwater running off
roads and hillsides is diverted into the
berkads by soil bunds sloping upwards
on hillsides until they reach a road.

Most berkads have rectangular shapes
with vertical walls that crack due to
uneven external pressure of the soil
when the berkads dry up.

Water is drawn from berkads by either
using the steps or the hand-dug well
seen in the upper photo.

This handbook promotes the much
stronger oval-shaped berkads that has a
shape as the silt trap in this photo.

A newly made soil bund winds its way
downwards though the bush from an
unpaved road on a hillside.

Walking down hill in the bund, a
newly built berkad is reached at the
end of the bund.

The bund guides the run-off water into
the silt trap before it enters the berkad.

The excavated soil has been back-
filled against the berkad. This could
facilitate siphoning of water downhill
for watering livestock or small-scale
irrigation.

34

200 1950 200
Overflow
Silt trap 350 8200
Large stones

200
GL MWL MWL

20mm internal plaster with nil

3000
Burnt brick wall thickness GL
reduced from 200mm to 140mm

150
SECTION A - A (mm)

240 240
1450 4044 1450
MWL
Excavated soil backfilled
against the berkad
GL GL

3000
Burnt brick wall

150
SECTION B - B (mm)

1950 750 8440

4100
B 4100
Excavated soil backfiled
against berkad
Large stones
Silt trap
Inlet

A A
4044
1524

975
568

PLAN

35

12766

526 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 240
4326 4100 4340

B

2373

2317
2282
2065

2029
1718
403
A A
360

1246
315

1089
868

753 753
2063

4044

4746
1524

568
868

1089
1246
315

360

403

1718

2029
2065

2282

2317
2373
B
PLAN OF EXCAVATION

Marking a berkad on the ground can be made as follows:

1) Mark the highest place of the site for the inlet with a wooden peg.

2) Mark the lowest place of the site for the overflow with a peg situated 13 m
from the inlet.

3) Draw a 13 m long nylon string between the two pegs. The string represents the
centre line, called A-A, on the plan seen above.

4) Then place 14 pegs along the centre line with the intervals shown in
centimetres below. The length of the berkad is 12766 mm = 1276.6 cm =
12.766 m = 12.77 m.

5) Starting from peg No. 1 at the inlet and measuring towards peg No. 14 (listed
in the upper row) the measurements between the pegs are listed as cm in the
middle row.

6) The figures in the lowest row are the distances from the centre line to the edge
of the excavation. Use a long mason’s square to mark these measurements at
an angle of 90 degrees to the centre line.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Total
53 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 24 1277
103 87 32 75 36 40 125 172 207 228 237 232 203 109

36

Excavation of a berkad is done as follows:

1) First excavate the walls of the water reservoir by cutting along the line marked
on the ground.

2) Thereafter excavate the wall vertically downwards using either a spirit level or
a plumber’s rod, while also removing the soil within the wall. The excavated
soil is dumped outside and around the lower end of the berkad from where it is
back-filled after the wall is built.

3) The depth of the excavation should be 313 cm at the silt trap and the floor
should be horizontal when measured from there.

4) When the reservoir has reached its final depth, the silt trap is excavated as
shown in the design on the previous page.

Concreting the floor of a berkad is done before building the wall.

1) First 7 cm thick layer of concrete 1:3:4 is compacted onto the excavated floor.
Then a layer of weld mesh is laid onto the concrete. Thereafter a 7 cm thick
layer of concrete 1:3:4 is compacted onto the weld mesh and smoothened. The
work of concreting the floor must be completed in 1 day.

2) The concrete floor must be kept moist and covered with polythene, empty
cement bags or grass for 3 weeks of curing.

The wall of a berkad can be built of several types of materials depending on the soil
structure of the excavation.

1) The options are: burnt bricks, concrete blocks, rubble stones or ferro-cement.
A disadvantage of ferro-cement is that the wall must be kept moist and under
shade for 3 weeks, otherwise the wall will be porous and might leak.

2) The technique of building a wall of ferro-cement is described on page 23.

The inlet and silt trap can be made of the same material as the wall of a water
reservoir.

A soil or stone bund starts from the inlet and winds its way upwards with a gradient
of about 3 degrees until it reaches a road or a rock outcrop capable of supplying
sufficient run-off to fill the berkad with water.

37

Bill of quantities and cost of a berkad
Description Unit Quantity Unit cost Total cost
Ksh Ksh
Labour cost
Materials
Crushed stones Tonnes 3 600 1,800
Hardcore 2" to 6" Tonnes 7 200 1,400
Burnt bricks 4” x 6” x 10” Units 1,500 5 7,500
Water Oil-drums 20 100 2,000
Y 12 twisted iron bars Lengths 2 600 1,200
Galvanized ceiling nails Kg 4 130 520
Cost of materials 43,220


Total Cost of a Berkad 73,920

38

3.8 Rectangular water tanks
The only type of water tanks with
square and rectangular shapes that
can be recommended is seen in
these two photos.

The main features of the tanks are:

a) the sides of the excavation
must have a low gradient and be
covered by butyl rubber or PVC
sheets;

b) the surface of the excavation
must be smooth without any sharp
objects that can puncture the
sheets;

c) the sheets covering the exca-
vation must be glued together by
experts, to ensure water-tightness.

The disadvantages are:

a) the sheets are expensive,

b) the sheets can be punctured by livestock walking into the reservoirs,
c) high evaporation losses, unless the tanks are covered with galvanized mesh
attached to the center pole and onto which creepers can grow as shwon in the upper
photo.

3.9 References on water tanks
Ferrocement Water Tanks and their construction. Watt, S. IT Publications. UK.
How to build cylindrical water tanks with domes. Nissen-Petersen, E.1990.
How to build an underground tank with dome. Nissen-Petersen, E. 1900.
How to repair various types of water tanks. Nissen-Petersen, E. 1990.
How to build and install gutters with splash-guard. Nissen-Petersen, E 1990.
How to build smaller water tanks and jars. Nissen-Petersen, K. 1990.
Make your own plastic lined underground tank. Cherogony, KRA/RELMA 1999.
Rain Catchment and Rural Water Supply. Nissen-Petersen,E. H&S, UK, 1982
Rainwater Catchment Systems. John Gould and Nissen-Petersen, E. ITDG, 1999.
Water from Roofs. Nissen-Petersen, E. Danida Kenya, 2006.
Water tanks with guttering and handpump by Nissen-Petersen, E. Danida, 1990.

39

Chapter 4. Subsurface dams

Most rainwater running off roads passes through gullies and riverbeds on its way to
the sea. Some of that water can be trapped in one, or several, of the types of
subsurface dams that are described briefly in this chapter and in detail in another
handbook of this series: Water from Dry Riverbeds.

4.1 Water in sand reservoirs
The main feature of subsurface dams is that their water reservoir is full of sand, where
water is stored in the voids between the sand particles. 350 litres of water (35%) can
be extracted from 1 cu.m. (1,000 litres) of coarse sand, due to its large voids. Fine-
textured sand provides less than 190 litres (19%) of water from 1 cu.m. of sand, while
only 50 litres (5%) of water may be extracted from silt due to its tiny voids.
Subsurface reservoirs should therefore always contain as much coarse sand as
possible. Storing of water in sand reservoirs has the following advantages:

1) Evaporation loss is minimal: Evaporation decreases proportionally with the
water’s distance to the sand surface, and it is reduced to zero at a depth of 60
cm below the surface of the sand.
2) The water is not contaminated by large numbers of animals, because the water
is ‘hidden’ below the surface of the sand. Some contamination does occur by
passing animals etc, but it is limited to the area close to the sand surface, and
no contamination occurs at the depth where the water is extracted.
3) Mosquitoes and other disease-spreading insects, as well as frogs and snakes,
cannot live in water stored in sand reservoirs.

Many gullies and riverbeds contain only fine-textured sand particles or no sand at all.
In such cases, coarse sand can be trapped from floodwater by means of constructing a
sand dam as explained in the next pages.

4.2 Floodwater passing roads
Floodwater can pass roads in two
ways; either under bridges, or over the
roads. The latter are called drifts. Irish
Bridges are concrete drifts that may
function as weirs by blocking the
underground flow of water in the sand,
thereby creating a water reservoir
upstream of the bridge, as seen in the
photo.

If Irish Bridges do not create water
reservoirs, the upstream side of the
bridges could be plastered with mortar
or clayey soil, if the authorities allow.
This photo shows water being piped
from such a reservoir into a tank from
where it is pumped up to a community.
.

40

4.2 Hand-dug wells
Hand-dug wells are the easiest and cheapest structures for the extraction of water
from riverbeds containing sand. Wells can either be placed directly in a riverbed with
a well-head protected against flood damage, or in a riverbank. The latter may require
a perforated pipe to drain water from the riverbed into the well.

It is always important to sink a hand-dug well in, or at, the deepest part of a riverbed,
because that gives access to the most water. Such deep places can be identified by
either:

1) Trees, such as wild figs and other trees that can only grow where water is
available all year round.

2) Water holes excavated by people or animals that yield water for some time
or throughout dry seasons.

3) Dowsing by gifted persons walking along riverbeds in dry seasons.

4) Probing by hammering long and retrievable iron rods into the sand of
riverbeds. This technique can produce hydraulic profiles that show the
correct places to sink wells and boreholes, and to construct weirs and
subsurface dams as shown below.

This longitudinal profile of a riverbed was drawn from measurements taken from
probing with an iron rod at 20 metres intervals. The most suitable place for sinking a
well is between probing number 2 and 4 on the left side of the profile because here the
riverbed is deepest and will therefore provide most water.

Hand-dug wells can be built in two ways
depending on their depths. Shallow wells
can be excavated to their final depth and
then built from the bottom and upwards with
burned bricks as shown in this photo.

1

If hand-dug wells have to be sunk in deep sand, the
“sinking” method should be used, because it is safe
and economical.

The well-shaft is made of curved concrete blocks
that are reinforced together, atop a concrete
foundation ring which is made in a circular groove
cut into the sand of the well site. The concrete
blocks are then mortared and tied with GI wires
onto the foundation ring with steps built in the wall
for easy entry and exit. When sand is scooped out
of the shaft, it sinks into the sand. More blocks are
then added and scooping repeated, and so on until
the shaft has sunk to its final depth.

Concrete culverts can also be used for sinking shafts but they are difficult to handle.

Water can be drawn from hand-dug
wells using a windlass, which
requires only a new rope once in a
while as seen in this photo from
Namibia. Note the cattle troughs
made of tree trunks.

Wells can also be fitted with hand or
motor pumps but that requires much
more cash input, maintenance and
repairs.

4.3 Subsurface dams, weirs and sand dams
When a hand-dug well in a riverbed cannot supply the required volume of water, the
yield of water can be increased by raising the water table in the riverbed by means of
building a subsurface dam, a weir or a sand dam. These types of dams are built
downstream of the well and onto a natural dyke that is located somewhere
downstream of the well.

The most potential natural dyke of the four dykes seen in this profile, is situated at the
far left side of the profile. A subsurface dam, which was built of soil on that dyke,
raised the water level 1.5 metres from the existing water level (Ext. WL) to the new
water level (New WL) along a 500 metres long stretch of the riverbed. The subsurface
dam increased the volume of extractable water from the riverbed by about 2,000 cubic
metres. The construction cost was free community labour for 350 days only.

2

4.4 Subsurface dams, whose walls are built of soil
subsurface dam walls built of soil consist of replacing the sand laying on an under-
ground dyke with soil taken from the riverbanks. The dam wall made of soil prevents
floodwater from infiltrating in the sand and seeping downstream in the riverbed. The
trapped water can be extracted from a hand-dug well sunk into the deepest part of the
riverbed.

A longitudinal profile of a riverbed combined with a three dimensional view of a
subsurface dam, whose wall of soil is built onto a natural dyke, and a hand-dug well
sunk into the deepest part of the riverbed.

Standard design and profiles of a subsurface dam built of soil.

3

Construction of subsurface dams whose walls are built of soil:

The base for the wall is cleared by
removing all sand from the site in a
stretch of about 2 metres wider than the
base of the wall.

The width of the base is marked onto
the riverbed and excavated to a depth
of 20 cm into the floor of clayey soil or
laterite.

The profile of the dam wall is marked
onto the riverbanks.

A key, 60 cm wide, is then excavated
along the centre of the base and into
the banks to a depth of at least 60 cm.
Should layers of sand be found in the
key, it must be deepened to 60 cm
below any layer of sand.

The dam wall is constructed of the
most clayey soil found near the site.
First the soil is compacted into the key,
preferably with water. Then the wall is
constructed, layer-by-layer, each 20 cm
thick, of soil that is well compacted.

The upstream and downstream sides
are cut to 45 degrees slope and
smoothened. If the soil found for
building the key and dam wall is
lacking in clay content, the upstream
side of the dam wall should be plastered with a layer of clay or soil mixed with dung
for the purpose of making it more water proof. When the dam wall is completed, the
excavated sand is back-filled.

Soil can be analysed in transparent plastic bottles without bottoms and caps. Place
the bottles upside down in sand and fill the bottles halfway with soil samples and
top up with water. The soil with the slowest seepage, seen in Soil No. 3, is the best
for building dam walls, because it has the highest clay content.

4

4.5 Weirs
Weirs are walls built of rubble stone masonry, or concrete, across riverbeds and into
the riverbanks. Although the construction cost of weirs is higher than subsurface dams
built of soil, their advantage is that the dam wall can protrude 50 cm above the level
of sand in riverbeds, while dam walls for subsurface dams have to be 50 cm below the
riverbed. The 1 metre difference in the height of sand in riverbeds provide a much
larger storage capacity of water, which usually justifies the bigger construction cost.

A longitudinal profile combined with a 3-dimensional view of a weir built into natural
dyke and riverbank. A hand-dug well is sunk in the deepest part of the riverbed.

A standard design and profiles of a weir with wing walls.

The construction of this weir took 452 community working days, 105 bags of cement,
2 rolls of barbed wire, 15 tonnes of sand from the riverbed, 15 tonnes of crushed
stones and 40 tonnes of large rubble stones. The construction cost was: Ksh 80,800
for survey, design and labour, Ksh 68,000 for materials and Ksh 15,300 for transport
of materials. This amounts to a total cost of Ksh 164,100, plus an estimated value of
Ksh 50,700 for local labour and materials. The total cost and value was therefore Ksh
214,800 in 2004.

5

Construction of a weir consists of the following procedure:

Remove the sand in a 2 metres wide
stretch across the riverbed.

Excavate the key to be 60 cm wide and
100 cm below any layer of sand found in
the soil of the riverbed and riverbanks.

The height of the wing walls above the
riverbanks can be 60 cm only.

Wash rubble stones and compact them into
a 20 cm high layer of mortar mixture of 1
cement to 4 sand, which is laid in the
bottom of the key along its whole length.

Then lay 4 lengths of thick barbed wire in
the key along its whole length for
reinforcement of the dam wall. Continue
laying 20 cm layers of mortar and
compacting rubble stones into it.

Another 4 lengths thick barbed wire are
laid into the mortar at 20 cm intervals
before the final height of the wall.

The wall is built to 50 cm above the level
of sand in the riverbed by applying mortar
to flat rubble stones along the outer sides of the wall. Next day the space between the
sides are filled with mortar and rubble stones.

4.6 Sand dams
Sand dams are structures that can raise the level of
sand and water to several metres height far upstream
of the dam wall. Sand dams are much more
complicated to design and construct than subsurface
dams and weirs, because of the pressure made by
floods and the elevated sand and water that press
against the dam wall.

As a matter of fact, most sand dams do not function
well and many have been washed away by floods.
However, one design has proved more successful than
all the others and that is the ALDEV (African Land
Development) design from the 1950s. The design
criteria is based on the height of the spillway as
shown on this sketch.

6

The main feature of the ALDEV sand dam is that the spillway is only raised to about
30 cm height after floodwater has deposited sand to the level of the spillway. This
procedure ensures that the reservoir will consist of coarse sand from where up to 35%
of water can be extracted, which is 350 litres of water from 1 cu.m. of sand.

The table below shows the percentage of water that can be extracted from the various
types of silt and sand that are found in riverbeds.

Silt Fine sand Medium sand Coarse sand

Size mm <0.5 0.5 to 1.0 1.0 to 1.5 1.5 to 5.0

Porosity 38% 40% 41% 45%

Water extraction 5% 19% 25% 35%
The table shows that only 5% of water, which is 50 litres of water, can be extracted
from 1 cubic metre of silt, while 35%, 350 litres of water, can be extracted from
1 cubic metre of coarse sand.

Sand dams should be filled with coarse sand from where 350 litres of water can be
extracted from every cubic metre of sand. The technique of extracting coarse sand
from floodwater consists of raising the spillway by 30 cm high stages above each
level of sand deposited by floods.

A 30 cm high spillway traps the heavier coarse sand
that rolls along the bottom of floodwater. Fine
textured sand and silt, which is lighter and therefore
floats in the upper layer of floodwater, will not be
trapped by the spillway. When the first stage of a
spillway has trapped coarse sand from a flood, a
second phase of 30 cm height is added and so on until
the sand dam has reached its designed height.

7

Plan and profiles of a sand dam built in Kitui in 2004.

The construction cost was Ksh 110,400 for survey, design and labour, Ksh 181,500
for materials and Ksh 55,300 for transportation of materials, totalling Ksh 347,200. In
addition, the value of local materials and labour supplied free by the community was
Ksh 168,350. The total construction cost was therefore Ksh 515,550 in 2004.

Construction of sand dams is implemented as follows:

The sand is removed in a
stretch of about 2 metres
wider than the base of the dam
wall

The base of the dam wall and
spill-over apron, each of
which is 0.75 of the spillway
height, are excavated 20 cm
into firm soil.

The key under the dam wall is excavated to a depth of 100 cm into firm soil and to the
designed width of 0.55 of the spillway height. The key in the riverbanks is also
excavated to a depth of 100 cm and with the same width as the base. The wing walls
have a key of 30 cm and a width of 60 cm.

8

The whole length of the key is filled
with concrete of mixture 1 cement, 4
sand and 4 ballast, into which
washed rubble stones are compacted.

Four lengths of thick barbed wire, or
iron bars, are laid into the concrete
of the keys.

The base of the wall and apron are
reinforced with concrete in a similar
way but with iron bars for every 30
cm.

Two templates made of timber and
having the required shape of the
spillway, are erected onto the
concrete floor. Strings are attached
from the templates to the wing walls
in order to guide the builders.

The two sides of the spillway and the
wing walls are now built by mortaring
flat stones along the outer walls and
filling them with concrete and rubble
stones the next day.

The spillway is only raised 30 cm
above the level of sand in the
riverbed. When flood water has
deposited sand to that level, the
spillway can be raised another 30 cm.

After the next flood(s) have deposited
sand to that level, raise the spillway
by another 30 cm and so on until the
full height of the spillway has been
reached.

9

4.8 Sand harvesting
During rehabilitation of gullies to
minimize siltation of Lake Victoria
implemented by RELMA/ Sida/
ASALCON in the heavily eroded
land between Katitu and Homa Bay,
11 sand dams were constructed across
gullies together with Kusa
Community Development Group.

The income from selling coarse sand
for construction works paid back the
construction cost within 18 months.
A gully before a sand dam was built at Kusa.

The sand dams were constructed
according to the ALDEV design with
the spillway raised in stages of 30 cm
height after floods had deposited sand
upto the height of the spillway.

The first stage of a spillway being 30 cm high.

Unfortunately, people dug deep holes
in the sand reservoirs instead of
harvesting only the recommended 30
cm top layer of the sand, which
would have been replenished by the
next flood. The result was that the
deep excavations were refilled with
silt instead of sand, which nobody
wanted to buy.
One of the completed sand dams at Kusa.
In order to restore the good business,
the spillways of the sand dams were
cut down to 30 cm above the original
level of the gullies. This drastic
technique allowed the next flood to
wash out all the silt in the reservoirs.
The community were trained once
more in closing the spillways in 30
cm high stages and to harvest only
the top layer of sand.

Sand harvesting from a sand dam.

10

4.9 Gold and gemstones from sand dams
UNDP and ASALCON
trained engineers and
technicians to survey,
design and construct
subsurface dams, weirs
and sand dams in the Dry
Zone of Burma in 1994.
During a follow-up visit to
the dams in 1995, people
were washing gold out of
the sand dam.

In Eastern Kenya, rubies
are found in sand dams
near a volcanic hill. Gold being washed out of a sand dam in Burma.

In Western Kenya, sand bags were placed across streams and gold was found just
upstream of the barriers.

The explanation for these additional benefits of sand dams, is that gold and gem
stones are heavier than the other materials that floodwater transports downstream in
riverbeds. When floodwater passes over the almost level surface of the reservoirs of
sand dams, the velocity of the flowing water is reduced with the heaviest material,
such as gold and gemstones settle down into the sand of these dams.

4.10 References on subsurface dams, weirs and sand dams
Dying Wisdom.Centre Agarwal, A. and Narain, S. 1991for Science and Environment, India.
Groundwater arresting sub-surface structures. Ahnfors, O. 1980. Sida/ Govt. of India.
Sand storage dams for water conservation. Burger, S.W. 1970. Water Year 1070. S. Africa.
Water Quality Data Book. Faillace, C. and E.R. 1987. Water Development Agency, Somalia.
The feasibility of Sand Dams in Turkana. Fewster, E. 1999. Loughborough University, UK.
Underground dams in arid zone riverbeds. Finkel & Finkel Ltd. 1978. Haifa, Israel.
Underground water storage in Iran. Finkel & Finkel Ltd. 1978. Haifa. Israel.
Rainwater Catchment Systems. Gould, J. and Nissen-Petersen, E.1999. IT Publications, UK.
Field Engineering for agricultural development. Hudson, N.W. 1975. Oxford, UK.
Field Engineering. Longland, F. 1938. Tanganyika.
Storage of groundwater behind sub-surface dam. Newcomb, R.C. 1961. US Geol.Survey. US
Groundwater Dams for small-scale water supply. Nilsson, A. 1988. IT Publications. UK.
Rain Catchment and Water Supply in Rural Africa. Nissen-Petersen, E. 1982H & S, UK.
Subsurface dams and sand dams. Nissen-Petersen, E. and Lee, M. 1990. Danida Kenya.
Subsurface and Sand-storage Dams. Nissen-Petersen, E. 1995. UNDP/Africare, Tanzania.
Harvesting rainwater in semi-arid Africa. Nissen-Petersen, E. 1990. Danida, Kenya.
Ground Water Dams in Sand-rivers. Nissen-Petersen, E. 1996. UNCHS, Myanmar.
Water from Sand Rivers. Nissen-Petersen, E. 2000. RELMA/Sida, Kenya.
Water from Dry Riverbeds, Nissen-Petersen, E. 2006. Danida, Kenya.
Where there is no water. Mutiso, G. and Thomas, D. 2000. SASOL, Kenya.
Subsurface dams and its advantages Raju, K.C.B. 1983..Ground Water Board, India.
Ephemeral rivers in the tropics. Sandstrom, K. 1997. Linkoping University, Sweden.
Sub-surface dams Slichter. 1902..USGS Water Supply and Irrigation. USA.
The storage of water in sand. Wipplinger, O. 1958. Water Affairs, South West Africa.
Sand storage dams in South-West Africa. Wipplinger, O. 1974. South Africa.

11

Chapter 5. Run-off farming

5.1 Drainage from roads by engineers

Rainwater run-off from rural roads
usually finds its own way into the
bush or the farmers’ fields, where it
creates gullies and causes other
damage, before it ends up in the sea
or in underground aquifers, maybe
hundreds of kilometres away.

Natural drainage from the lowest point of a
road.

Fortunately, road engineers are
nowadays becoming much more
aware of the possible negative
environmental impact of roads.

This photo shows an ideal situation:
A road grader has cut a furrow that
drains run-off water into a murram
pit, where it can be used for watering
livestock and, perhaps, irrigation of a
garden or tree nursery.

A graded furrow drains water into a murram
pit.

This photo shows another useful
solution: A culvert drains run-off
water into a murram pit, instead of
spilling its water into a gully, which
would erode more and more for each
year.

A culvert draining run-off water into a pond.

12

5.2 Drainage from roads by farmers
A farmer in the semi-desert
Somaliland has made a small bump
on the road and a slightly sloping
soil bund, that together drain
rainwater from the road into his
sorghum field, which is the only
crop growing in the area.

Bump and drain cut manually to irrigate a field.

A farmer in Kitui has excavated a
ditch that diverts run-off water
from a road into a murram pit,
which has been converted into a
small dam.

Soil bunds should have a gradient
that allows the silt to be deposited
into a ditch before the water
reaches the water reservoir. A ditch draining run-off water into a reservoir.

In sandy soil, the slope should be
3:100, i.e. 3 cm depth for every
100 cm length. In clayey soil the
slope should only be 2:100.

A gradient of 3:100 can be marked
onto the land by tying a long
transparent hosepipe onto 2 long
sticks that are both marked at the
height of 100 cm.

Place the first stick at the ditch
next to the road, and the second
stick exactly 10 m down towards
the murram pit.

Fill the hosepipe with water until the water level reaches the 100 cm mark on the first
stick. Then move the second stick sidewards until the water level in the pipe is 30 cm
above the 100 cm mark, which gives a gradient of 3:100 (30 cm:10 m = 30cm:1,000
cm).
Repeat this excise every 10 metres until the final point is reached.

13

Another tool for marking contour
(horizontal) lines and gradients on land
is called the A-frame. An A-frame is
made of 3 long sticks having the same
length of 2.5 m. Two of the sticks are
tied together at the top.

The third stick is tied to the first two
sticks so that its two ends are exactly at
the same distance from the ground. The
exact centre of this stick is marked onto
it. A stone is hung on a string tied
around the joint of the first two sticks.

When the string is aligned to the mark
on the horizontal stick, the two legs of
the A-frame stand on horizontal ground.

A long horizontal line is pegged out as
shown in the sketch on the right.

If a gradient line is to be marked on the
A contour (horizontal) line is being
land, then the mark is changed as shown
marked in the field
on this sketch.

A gradient of 2:100 is found by placing
the A-frame on a 2 m long timber that is
placed on horizontal ground with one
end lifted 4 cm from the ground.

The position of the string is marked on
the stick and that mark is used for setting
out the gradient of 2:100 in the field.

A gradient of 3:100 is found by lifting
one end of the timber 6 cm off the An A-frame is being adjusted to mark a
ground and marking the position of the gradient line of 2:100 onto a field.
string onto the stick.

48

A third method of setting out contour
lines consists of tying a spirit level to
the middle of a string with each end
tied onto 2 sticks of exactly same
height and spaced 10 m apart.

When the air-bubble in the spirit
level is exactly in the middle, the
sticks are then standing on horizontal
ground. Three farmers are setting out a horizontal
line.

If a gradient of 3:100 is to be marked, then the 10 m long string is tied 30 cm lower
than the other stick. For a gradient of 2:100, the string on one stick must be 20 cm
lower than on the other stick.

A fourth method is to
sight along two water
levels in a circular
transparent hosepipe
that is half filled with
water.

Two farmers are using circular transparent hosepipes filled
halfway with water to sight horizontal lines.

To find two horizontal points, one
person sights along the two water
levels in the pipe towards another
person with the same eye height,
while this person moves up or down
until their eyes are at the same level.

To mark a gradient of 3:100, measure 30 cm down from the other person’s eyes and
mark the point at his/her clothes. Then the two persons hold a 10 m long string
between them while the first person sights towards the point marked on the second
person who moves up or down until the two water levels align with the marked point
on the second person. When that point is reached, the gradient is 3:100 on that 10 m
stretch.

1

5.3 Soil bunds

Soil bunds are used for transporting run-
off water from a catchment area, such as
a road, into either a murram pit, an earth
dam or a ground tank or for seasonal
irrigation of fields.

Fruit trees and bananas can be grown in
the bottom of soil bunds, while fodder
grasses and multi-purpose scrubs and
trees can be planted on the banks of
excavated soil. Bananas and papaya growing in a soil
bund,
while sisal and kei apple mark the
boundary
by growing on the downstream bank.

In this photo, the soil bund has to be
cleaned of banana debris before it can
divert run-off water to the far end of the
field where it is needed for seasonal
irrigation.

Bananas growing a soil
bund.

Soil bunds can also be made on steep land if the
velocity of run-off water is slowed by means of
large stones placed across the soil bunds. Such
barriers are called check dams.

It is advisable to plant creeping grass between the
stones of c
heck dams because it “concretes” the stones
together as seen in the photo.

2

5.4 Gullies

Rainwater running off catchments,
such as roads, starts as sheet erosion
that might enlarge to become rill
erosion, which might develop into
gullies.

Gully erosion causes much damage
to fields and should therefore always
be stopped at an early stage by
means of check dams.

A simple check dam can be made by placing large stones across a shallow gully as
seen in this photo from Somaliland. However, the wing walls were not high enough,
and floodwater has “eaten” away parts of the two banks and has by-passed the check
dam.

The check dam seen in this photo from Dodoma, Tanzania is made correctly. The two
wing walls are high above the spillway in the centre of the check dam and floodwater
passes over the spillway while depositing silt and soil in the gully upstream of the
check dam.

This sketch shows
a series of check
dams correctly
built of square
stones or blocks
laid across a long
gully.

3

These two sketches give
some measure-ments on
building check dams of
rubble stones in gullies.

This sketch shows another type
of check dam constructed with
gabion weirs, which consist of
boxes made of galvanized iron
mesh that have been filled with
all sizes of rubble stones.

Although gabions are efficient,
they are rather expensive to
make and they must be
transported to the site, thereby
adding to the cost.

4

Plastic bags filled with soil and
stones are much more affordable
than gabions.

This check dam made of sand bags
and a spillway excavated into one
of the two banks was built in a
deep gully near Lake Victoria. The
first flash flood had just passed.
Silt and water are deposited in the
gully, while surplus water was
discharged over the spillway.
A check dam made of sand bags in a deep gully.

After a few flash floods more,
grass has “concreted” the sand
bags into a dam wall. The gully is
almost filled with fertile silt and
green vegetation is growing on the
banks of the former gully.

After a few rain showers the gully is healed.

Nearby another farmer built a
simple sand dam across a deep
gully. The main purpose of the
dam is to harvest sand for sale. A
secondary purpose is to protect his
farm land being consumed by the
gully.

Another 10 sand dams were built
in the area for sand harvesting and
gully control. The construction cost
of these dams was recovered by
selling sand for 18 months only.

5

Another type of check dam is the masonry
weir. Weirs are constructed of either
concrete or rubble stone masonry.

The main purpose of this weir seen in the
photo was to provide water for the Dream
Camp, now the Base Camp at the Talek
River running along the Masai Mara Game
Park, Kenya.

An additional advantage of the improved
water supply was that the vegetation turned
so lush upstream of the weir that birds,
hippos and crocodiles settled down there.

To improve the environment even more,
which attracts tourists and environmentalists, The weir built across the Talek River.
weir was enlarged to become a sand

An aerial photo taken in October 2006 of the
sand dam built over the weir in the Talek
River shows the difference made to the
environment.

The vegetation is green, large and lush
upstream of the sand dam (upper centre of
the photo) while there is very little
vegetation downstream of the sand dam
(lower centre and left side of the photo).
An aerial view of the sand dam in
Talek River in October
2006.

Most dry riverbeds and gullies could be turned into good water sources and that
would improve the environment by the simple means of check dams, subsurface
dams, masonry weirs and sand dams described above.

6

5.5 Macro-irrigation

Roads are excellent catchment areas. Due to their hard surface, 1 km of a narrow 4
metre wide road can produce about 1,000 cubic metres of water from a rainfall of 300
mm only.

This large volume of water can be used productively instead of the damage it is doing
to fields, gullies, riverbeds, rivers and the sea itself where the siltation destroys
bathing and fishing areas and the coral reefs.

The following macro-irrigation schemes are based on the techniques that were used in
the Negev Desert in Israel some 3,000 years ago. Some of the macro-irrigation
systems, which have been replicated at Kibwezi, Baringo and a few other arid and
semi-arid places in Eastern Kenya, are presented briefly in this section. More detailed
information can be found in the References in this handbook.

This sketch shows how
run-off water from a road
was diverted into a valley
at Kibwezi for the
purpose of providing
domestic water and
growing fruit trees, crops,
etc.

A series of stone and soil
bunds were built across
the valley. Each bund had
a spillway to allow
surplus water to spill over
into the next bund
without causing erosion.

Hand-dug wells sunk
between and below the
bunds supply water for
garden irrigation and
domestic water during
dry seasons.

7

Almost similar schemes, as shown
on this page, were implemented in
Baringo and a few other places.

8

5.6 References on run-off farming

Dying Wisdom. Anil Agarwal and Sunita Narain. CSE, India 2003.
Land and Life. . Hugues Dupriez. Philip DeLenener. Macmillan Publisher, U.K.
Looking after our land. Will Critchley.Oxfam, U.K. 1991.
Managing land. Technical Handbook No. 36. RELMA/Sida. 2005.
Production without Destruction. H.L. Vukasin, L.Roos, N. Spicer. M. Davies.
Zimbabwe
Soil Conservation in Arusha Region, Tanzania.
The Negev. Michael Evenari. Leslie Shanan, Naphtali Tadmor. Harvard University
USA.
Vanishing Land and Water. Jean-Louis Chleq. Hugues Dupriez. Macmillan Pub. U.K.
Ways of Water. Hugues Dupriez. Philip DeLenener. Macmillan Publisher, U.K.

9

Water from roads

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to Water from roads

More from Stephen Musimba

Recently uploaded

Water from roads